Bundleupyeg smashes winter clothing collection goal

The grassroots, winter clothing drive #Bundleupyeg has reached its lofty goal for the season.

The Edmonton initiative had a goal of collecting 1,300 bags of winter clothing for the city’s homeless. On Monday, #Bundleupyeg announced 1,514 bags of clothing had been donated in 31 days.

One word for this year’s campaign: WOW! 31 days, 20 volunteers, 1,514 bags of clothes, roughly 15,140 pieces of clothing collected & delivered to #yeg homeless shelters in 4 wks. THANK YOU! For donating, for believing in us & lifting us up to help others. We love you 💜 pic.twitter.com/HrdzAS57MT

Topham started with the help of a few family members and friends. This year, the number of volunteers increased to 20 and the number of collection depots increased from six last year to 24.

“I didn’t know if we were going to be able to hit it because we’re all volunteers of course,” Topham said on 630 CHED Wednesday morning.

“We work full time, myself included, but we did, and not only did we hit our goal, we sort of smashed and blew it out of the water, and this is by far the most we’ve ever done, so we’re just over the moon.”

Topham said she is blown away by the community support, especially because the temperature has been largely above seasonal so far.

“It’s amazing. I think it’s just a testament to the love that Edmonton has, the heart, the passion and the commitment and how we can all come together and we do every year for organizations and people in need in our city,” Topham said.

Topham said she does not know what the goal will be in 2019 but she has “big plans.”